Bowen Classic Arms Perfects the Ruger SP101 .357 Magnum
Revolver

by Jeff Quinn

photography by Jeff Quinn

November 6th, 2007

Hamilton Bowen of Bowen Classic Arms
is a craftsman, machinist, lawyer (we all have our faults), and
an artist. He has a stellar reputation as one of the world’s
premier gunsmiths, specializing in the customization of
revolvers. He has written the definitive textbook on The
Custom Revolver, and has earned the respect of his
peers, of which there are few. Many of his custom creations are
working art in its purest form; elegantly crafted and engraved
handguns that are a sight to behold. However, Hamilton Bowen also
turns out very many practical revolvers that are carried by
those who want the best. Handsome guns, but working
revolvers that see a lot of hours riding in a holster and
shooting at the range. The subject of this review is in the
latter category. Hamilton Bowen has taken the tough, durable
little Ruger SP101 .357 Magnum, and made it into a gun
that is easier to shoot well, and more accurately.

Like most Ruger revolvers, the SP101 is
overbuilt, compared to its competition. While there are a few
other pocket-size .357 revolvers on the market, most are built
for a lot of carrying and very little shooting. The Ruger is
built like a tank. At around twenty-seven ounces, it is no
lightweight, but it is as strong and durable as larger
full-sized magnums. What Bowen does to this little Ruger is to
make it more shootable.

One area in which the standard SP101 is lacking
is in the sights. The standard sights are serviceable, and work
just fine for social work at short distances, but they are not
easily regulated to hit accurately with a given load, and are
hard to see clearly for accurate work. Bowen installs a dandy
little rear sight that is black in color, with a white outline
notch. This rear sight is much easier to see clearly, and the pinned front sight is
very easy to pick up. The sight picture offered
by this setup is precise, and the sights are as rugged and
durable as any. Bowen regulates the sights in his shop to match the
shooter’s chosen ammunition, but in recognition of the
fact that guns can shoot to different points of aim for
different shooters, both front and rear sights are
interchangeable. Bowen offers five different rear sight offsets
- one centered and two each left and right, allowing 1-2"
windage corrections at 25 yards. What this means is that if the
windage is incorrect for you, all you have to do is exchange
sights instead of having to ship the gun back and forth. Front
sight blades can be had in pretty much any height and
configuration desired to tailor elevation to the desired load,
and Bowen ships an extra uncut front sight blade for this
purpose. All this may seem like overkill on a
"snubby", but Bowen shares our belief that serious
revolvers should be seriously accurate. Sometimes
field or defensive situations require long-range accuracy, and
this is where the "Perfected SP101" shines. As
Hamilton says, "We mean for people to be able to hit
what they're aiming at with these guns. Pocket revolvers have
always had an undeserved reputation for poor accuracy and a
general uselessness beyond six feet. Just doesn't have to
be that way."

For ease of reholstering, and just plain good
looks, Bowen gives the front of the cylinder the "Black
powder chamfer"; a nice beveling of the front of the
cylinder that makes the gun slide into a holster without digging
into the leather. Nice touch.

The final thing that Bowen does to make the
SP101 much more shootable is a good action tuning/smoothing.
I was shocked when I measured the trigger pulls on this SP101.
It is so smooth that it feels much lighter than it measures,
with the double action pull measuring right at ten pounds, and
the single action pull measuring about five. These pull weights
are heavy enough to reliably set off any primer to assure
perfect reliability, but being so smooth, the trigger pull is
very easy to control for accurate trigger work, enhancing the
practical accuracy of the weapon, while retaining one hundred
percent reliability.

Shooting the Bowen SP101 was a pleasure, with
all but the heaviest of ammunition. With Buffalo Bore
158, 170, and 180 grain ammo, it was apparent that the little
gun kicks a bit, but was still easily controllable. Even the
long 170 grain hollowpoint Buffalo Bore ammunition, which has an
overall length longer than their 180 grain load, was
easily accommodated by the SP101’s cylinder. With all ammo
tested, the little Ruger functioned perfectly. Accuracy over a
hand-held improvised rest at twenty-five yards was very good,
and the groups stayed in the two-inch range or slightly better,
depending upon the ammo used and how steadily I could hold the
little jewel.

With his "Perfected SP101"
package, Hamilton Bowen takes a rugged, reliable little pocket magnum, and
makes it much more user-friendly. It is easy to shoot, and easy
to shoot well. Bowen’s improvements to the SP101 are
practical, reliable, handsome, and affordable.